Is it legal to live in a bedroom without any windows?

Question

I understand that when a house is advertised, a room must have windows to be counted as a bedroom. Once a person moves into the house, is it up to the tenant to decide which room they went to sleep in? I am living in a group house in Washington, DC, and I am moving to a room in the basement that has no windows. I want to know if I am breaking any laws by doing this, or if my landlord could force me to move to a different room. Thanks!

Answer 1

You would not be breaking the law, and if your landlord did not specifically rent the basement room to you, he is not breaking laws either. Sounds like you are just re-locating in the house for more privacy. Realize, it is dangerous with no windows.

Answer 2

Check with your local town/city hall to check up on the building codes.

Answer 3

You aren't allowed to rent out a basement if there is no walk-out for fire safety reasons. If your bedroom in the basement doesn't have a door, the basement has to be exclusively "your space", meaning the other tenants cannot use your space as storage.

If it's a group house, you don't usually get to pick which room you want if the other people got there first. You can't force someone who's already in that room to move their stuff out just because you want their room.

Answer 4

In some places that wouldn't be a legal bedroom. A legal bedroom has window for fire escape and firemen to access, plus it has to have a closet.